Eyes Wide Open
by grangerdanger01
Summary: First year Anita arrives at Hogwarts with her two new best friends- Colin and Ginny. Anything could happen this year, so Anita must keep her eyes wide open and hang on for the ride of love, friendship, and possibly betrayal.
1. Chapter 1

*** Disclaimer * I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to it!**

Anita waved goodbye to her parents as she stepped off of the platform and onto the Hogwarts Express. She thought about what her mom had told her while they waited for the train to arrive. She had said, "Anita, just remember, Hogwarts is a magical place, so always keep your eyes open. You never know what you'll see!" Anita loved the things her mom said to her, even though they were sometimes cryptic.

She got on the train and followed the Ginny, the nice girl she had met on the platform. They found an empty compartment, so they sat and began to talk about Hogwarts.

"So," Ginny began, "What house do you think you'll be in?"

"Well, my dad was in Ravenclaw and my mom was in Gryffindor, so I think I'll be in either one. You?" Anita replied.

"Oh, all of my family is always in Gryffindor, so I'm pretty positive that's where I'll be."

"How-"

Before she could complete her sentence, there was a knock at their compartment door. Ginny slid it open and boy that looked very lost appeared. "Hello," he said. "I'm Colin Creevy, first year. May I sit here?"

"Sure, Colin! I'm Anita and this is Ginny, both first years. We were just talking about what house we want to be in!"

"Really? I want to be in Gryffindor! Do you know who's in Gryffindor?"

"All of my brothers?" Ginny said.

"Harry Potter!" Colin beamed as he said his name.

They kept up their conversation about Hogwarts for the whole ride. All three spoke in wonder of Hogwarts, and Colin spoke in wonder of Harry Potter. He was amazed to find that Ginny in fact knew him slightly and that her brother was his best friend. The whole time, Ginny was aware of Anita's complete interest in him, and he in her. It seemed like they had some weird connection, but she couldn't tell how. There was no way she could.

When they got to Hogsmeade Station, Hagrid herded all of the first years together and took them to the boats. Anita, Colin, and Ginny were all put in a boat together because they were standing with each other. In the boat they were all thinking something along the lines of, "Wow... I'm actually here... I can't wait!"

Before they knew it they were sitting in the Great Hall and the sorting hat was singing it's annual song. Of the three of them, Colin was called first.

"Colin Creevy!" Professor McGonagall called from the front of the room. He took one last look at Anita and Ginny, walked up to the stool and sat down. The sorting hat was placed on his head and sat there only for a moment before yelling, "GRYFFINDOR!" Colin jumped up and proudly walked over to the Gryffindor table.

After some others, Anita was up.

"Anita Jennings!" called the professor. Anita thought about Colin being in Gryffindor and silently hoped that she could be in the same house as him. Ever since the door had slid open on the train, she had liked him. She knew that they would be best friends through all seven years. All this went through her head as she sat down on the stool and had the hat put on her head. For two minutes it sat there, deciding. For Anita, it felt like ages. Finally, the hat rang out with, "RAVENCLAW!"

Even though she wasn't with Colin, she was still ecstatic about her house. She felt Ravenclaw pride run through her like she had hoped Hogwarts pride would.

Finally,

"Ginevra Weasley!" was called. Ginny walked up confidently. She was very prepared for what came next. The hat had barely touched her head when it screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!" She walked over and sat next to Colin and the other new Gryffindors.

Anita was so happy, but she felt a little isolated. She knew that she would make more friends within her own house, but she wished she could be with Colin and Ginny. Already, she had met a fellow first year and two second years; Luna Lovegood, Cho Chang, and Padma Patil. But as she talked with them, it wasn't the same as talking with her first Hogwarts friends.

Little did she know, she would be almost inseparable with them every chance they got, and to others, it seemed like that was all the time.


	2. Chapter 2

*I don't own anything in here related to Harry Potter.*

AN: I feel like it has been ridiculously long time since I wrote the first chapter (and it has), but I feel like it really has taken me this long to think of how to put this chapter into words. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy Chapter Two! :D

/

It was a month after sorting and Anita was walking down the stairs to the Great Hall for a late breakfast. Even in this short time, she had fallen in love with Hogwarts. At first, she had been scared that she wouldn't have time to be with Ginny and Colin, but that fear had quickly gone away when she realized how often she could see them.

As she went through the doors, she was attacked out of nowhere by a huge hug. After a second she realized it was Colin and hugged him right back.

"Morning, sleepy head. Someone slept late!" he said as he pulled away and they walked together to breakfast.

"I know, I was up all night cramming for Transfiguration. Anyways, my table or yours?" she said, gesturing from the Ravenclaw table to the Gryffindor table.

"Eh, let's go to yours. Less people around." he replied and sat at a particularly empty end of the table.

"Alright, sounds good. It smells amazing." She grabbed some food and stuck it on her plate, then started to eat. Colin pulled the nearby tray of sausage toward him and took a few.

After a moment of eating, Colin said, "Guess what?" He had suddenly lit up largely and seemed really excited about something.

"Yes?" Anita asked, interested.

"My mum and dad sent me an owl! They're moving into London, and I'll move all of my things when Holidays come around! You know what that means? I'll live closer to you and Ginny, and we could meet in Diagon Alley and ice cream or something! We'll be able to see each other!" he exclaimed, very hurriedly.

"Oh, Colin! That's wonderful! I'm so excited! Now we have to all three meet up and go to Florean's, no doubt. Oh, Colin, that's incredible!"

They talked about all the things they'd be able to do now that they'd be closer and Anita explained all of the places that she had to show him in London.

Anita and Colin sat there talking long after they were done eating. They talked about classes, Professors, and everything else. Anita couldn't help but notice how Colin would adjust his hair so it would lay just so, and how bright his eyes were as they looked into hers, and how handsome he was when he spoke.

It seemed like no time had passed when the bell rang, calling them to their first class of the day. They left each other and Anita joined her Ravenclaw friends on the way to Transfiguration. As the others laughed and talked about something, Anita's mind was still with Colin and she realized how much she had noticed about Colin.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Professor McGonagall clearing her throat at the front of the room, so her mind wandered elsewhere.

/

After classes, Anita walked with Colin to the large tree behind the castle and they laid out next to each other on the grass.

"I love it here. I'm so glad I get to be here," Colin said.

"Me too. I never imagined that it would be this amazing. And I love all of my friends. Especially you and Ginny. I can't believe I'm lucky enough to be here," replied Anita, and glanced sideways at Colin just for a second.

They stayed there for a while before sitting up and working on their Charms rolls together.

The afternoon passed almost as quickly as breakfast had. It seemed as though time when faster when Anita was with Colin, but she was alright with it. Before she knew it, she was in her dorm alone, left to her thoughts.

_Today was incredible, _she thought. _I got to spend time with Colin, walk to classes with Ginny, and spend time with Padma, Cho, and Luna during class. _She sighed. _Colin. He's so… sweet. And interesting, too. I'm so lucky to have him._

It was things like this that went through her mind before dinner. Once it came time to go down to the Great Hall, she was swimming in thoughts about all of her friends, but mostly Colin. He was just such an amazing friend.

She hurried down and sat with the girls at the Ravenclaw table. They gossiped about all of the usual first year drama that Anita loved hearing about. She fancies him, but he fancies another girl that's the first girl's best friend, blah, blah, blah.

They walked together back to the Common Room, but Ginny caught up with Anita before she entered. She was panting and had obviously run to catch up with her.

"Anita! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" she almost yelled.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Anita had started to freak out just a little bit and was worried about what Ginny had to say.

"No, no, nothing's wrong! It's wonderful! It's Colin- he's—"

Anita interrupted her, "—moving to London? I know! It's so wonderful!"

They chatted about this excitedly for a few minutes before Professor Flitwick shuffled by, urging them to return to their Common Rooms, and they reluctantly parted.

/

That night, as Anita lay in bed about to fall asleep, she whispered to herself, "This was a perfect day…." And she drifted off to sleep…


	3. Chapter 3

Early one morning, the week before Holiday break, Anita awoke gracefully. She drew apart the drapes around her bed and changed into her robes. The rest of the dorm was empty, meaning her friends were all downstairs waiting for her, so she sped up her morning routine and went downstairs.

She stepped into the Common Room and immediately found her Ravenclaw friends: Cho, Luna, and Padma. They sat in the corner by the fire, their favorite spot in the room.

"Morning Cho!" Anita said as she fell into the chair next to her.

"Hey Anita, there you are! We were wondering if you would ever wake up! We have news!" Cho exclaimed, beaming.

Anita leaned forward eagerly. This news was obviously good, or else Cho would not be this excited. "Well?" she asked.

Cho leaned forward quickly and whispered, "It's that Gryffindor you're always with. Ginny Weasley. She's – Well, she's got a crush on someone."

Anita didn't like this one bit. A look of confusion crossed her face, but it was nothing compared to her thoughts. Her mind was racing with questions. _Who could it be? Why hasn't she told me before Cho found out? Is this just some untrue piece of gossip that Cho picked up somewhere? What if she likes Colin-_

Colin? Why had Colin come to her mind? Would she dislike it that much if Ginny liked Colin? They're her best friends, so wouldn't she be happy for them if they got together?

_Whatever_, she thought and pushed the idea away. Cho had noticed her moment of not responding and was trying to pull her out of her trance.

"Anita? Anita? Are you in there? Don't you want to know who?" she was saying.

"Oh, yes! But you don't have to tell me, I'll just go ask her. I have to meet her at breakfast in a second, anyways. Are you guys coming?"

Cho deflated a little and waved for her to go. "No, we have to study for Potions. We'll see you later." She smiled and Anita nodded and smiled back before walking briskly out into the corridor.

/

The second Anita got down the staircase to the Great Hall, she was stopped by Colin approaching her from where he had been sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"I found you, Jennings! I beat you down here!" he said as he led her into the Great Hall.

"Oh, hush Creevey," she said, grinning and laughing. "We have to find Ginny- is she still down here?" she asked, obviously in a hurry to find her.

"I'm not sure… We can look… Oh! There she is! GINNY!" He bellowed, waving her over to them.

Anita met her eyes and gave her a meaningful look that Ginny deciphered immediately. The moment she reached them she dismissed Colin (who looked a little hurt to be turned away, but obeyed) and Anita pulled her over to the side of the room.

"Cho mentioned this morning that you fancy someone? Is it true? Who is it?" she asked eagerly, now excited to know if this was true.

Ginny's reaction was not as she had expected. She dragged Anita further into the corner, smiled a bit, and lowered her voice.

"Well, yes, I suppose I do fancy someone. But you mustn't tell anyone, alright? Swear?"

"I swear!" Anita squeaked and leaned in even closer.

"Well, um, I've rather, well, I….. I think I've taken a liking to Harry Potter." At this, Anita gasped- a little in relief and a little in excitement- and Ginny quickly hushed her. "Remember, you mustn't tell a single soul. You swore."

"Right, right. I won't tell. But you have to tell me all about it!" Anita was excited by this news and felt, deep down, a good feeling at the thought of it not being Colin. As she had before, she shoved that thought out of her mind.

"Not now," Ginny explained, "Not when Colin's over there waiting for us. But later, after class today, on the front lawn. We can have a little picnic and talk about… things." Ginny grinned, Anita nodded, and they walked back over to Colin and sat on either side of him.

"So, what was all that about?" Colin asked the girls.

"Nothing!" they said at the same time, but it was Anita who continued as Ginny turned as red as her hair, "It was just something about Cho and my Ravenclaw friends. Nothing that you'd be interested in."

Colin accepted this answer and turned to the trays of bacon, eggs, sausage, and more that lay out in front of them. "Shall we?"

Anita nodded and grabbed some food, but Ginny just sat there and turned a deeper shade of red, something that Anita had thought wasn't possible. She glanced around, realizing that Harry had sat down a little ways down the table and a shadow of a smile crossed her face, but she said nothing more.

/

After breakfast, they parted ways and went to their classes. The girls didn't meet again until their afternoon picnic on the front lawn. They chose a spot near the lake so they could dip their toes in as they spoke.

"So, what's he like in person? The most famous Boy-Who-Lived? What makes him catch your eye?" Anita asked teasingly and winked a little at Ginny.

"Oh, well, he's not arrogant in the slightest. He didn't know he was famous until right before his first year! He's so humble and sweet and….." Ginny went on and on, gushing about Harry and his seemingly flawless personality.

Once she was done, Anita smiled at her and simply said, "Wow, you really like this boy. Why don't you try and get him?"

"Oh, he'd never like me. I'm just a first year, and I'm his best friend's little sister. There's no chance…" As she said this, the spirit and animation that she had had as she described him faded a little.

"Why not? You're so wonderful! I bet he'd fall in love with you if you took a chance."

Ginny's spirit had pretty much disappeared by now. She mumbled, "It's fine, I'm alright just liking him for now." After a moment, she picked her head back up and smiled at Anita. "So, is there anyone you fancy yet?"

Anita was a little startled at this question, and she had to take a moment to think about this. Did she fancy anyone? Well, there weren't many Ravenclaw boys that she'd really gotten to know yet, and the only other boy she spoke to was Colin.

"Not really…" she replied tentatively.

"But surely there's someone!" Ginny pushed, causing to Anita to think about it even further

Well, what about Colin? He was one of the few people she confided everything in, even her annoyance at her dad for pushing her so hard. He was a very nice boy, and she did get that feeling in the pit of her stomach when she saw him… Was that love? Or even just a fancy?

"Well… I suppose…" Anita finally said.

Ginny wanted to know more, so she trudged on, "Who?" She was grinning by now, proud of herself for getting this out of Anita.

After only a moment more of thinking, Anita knew it. She hadn't noticed it before, but now that the thought had materialized, she knew it was true.

Anita looked up into Ginny's eyes and spoke softly, "I… Well, I… I believe that I rather fancy Colin."


End file.
